The first-ever “Golden Suvarnabhumi” Monograph Reading Ceremony in Moulmein, Mon State, concluded on November 4 after recognizing the Suvarnabhumi Kingdom as part of the Tha-Htone Region of Mon State.
The two-day Monograph Reading Ceremony organized by Moulmein University was held at the State Hall in Moulmein. Historians gathered to study cultural heritage and read eighteen monographs related to the Suvarnabhumi Kingdom.
U San Win, a retired assistant director with thirty years of experience with the Burmese Ministry of Culture’s historical research department, said, “In this ceremony, I read my field-research monograph about the Suvarnabhumi Kingdom in lower Burma. I wanted to demonstrate how many old cities were in existence and reveal evidence that I collected from the old cities during my field research.”
He added, “The historical evidence strongly supports that the Suvarnabhumi Kingdom included the old cities in Tha-Htone, Belinn and Kyeik-Hto Regions of Mon State. Not Thailand. Not in Sumatra or Java. And not in Indonesia.”
The president of the Mon State Parliament, U Kyin Phay, was in attendance at the ceremony along with state parliamentarians, Chief Minister of Mon State U Ohm Myint and his cabinet members, historians, professors, representatives of the Mon Literature and Culture Center from various townships, Moulmein University students, and about 500 members of the public.
On November 30, the three-day Pyu Tribe and Pyu Kingdom Monograph Reading Ceremony will commence in Rangoon. Controversially, state-run newspaper The Mirror advertised the event in an article that named Suvarnabhumi (or Tha-Htone) as part of the Pyu State Cities, not the Mon Region.
In response to the media report, secretary Min Khin Maung Lay of the Mon History Research Group signed and sent letters of disagreement to the President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Chief Minister of Mon State, and the organizing committee chairman of the Pyu Monograph Reading Ceremony.
